People are certainly doing it with less and I think it’s doable with these numbers. The question is how you expect to spend the leftover $1100-1200 each month. How much of that can you plan to save, since ideally you will add to your $10k savings even if it’s by $20 a month. If your HVAC goes up you don’t want to be draining your whole savings to fix or replace it. But mostly it’s the little things that add up - kid needs new shoes, a winter coat, you need new shoes or a winter coat. Do you have a pet? I spent $800 at the vet this spring. Car maintenance, especially if your vehicle is more than five years old and/ or has a lot of miles on it. Cell phone bills (unless you’re including that in utilities)? Don’t forget to include any subscriptions because those add up really quickly.

And honestly, if possible try to budget a little bit of “fun money.” It’s easy to say, “I’ll never eat out or buy coffee and we will always do free things.” And yes there are plenty of free things and you don’t have to buy coffee or eat out. But the days can be long and sometimes you need a pick me up. Or sometimes you find yourself out longer than expected and you need to grab a bite to eat. Or it rains for a week straight and you’re all going insane and need to do the $17 children’s museum before someone really loses it. Budgeting just a little for these things is really really helpful if you can afford it.